Roman Name Generator

Roman names: History, structure, and meaning

How many times have you seen the phrase “Word origin: Latin”? You have the Roman Empire to thank, and through thousands of years of history, this Mediterranean-dominating culture has shaped the way we speak, think, and, yes, create names.

Roman culture has fascinated us since The Aeneid, Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, right up to Gladiator, and the HBO Series Rome—and the fascination still runs deep in our veins. Roman life was brutal, political, and ruthlessly industrious, which affects how Latin names sound to us.

Roman naming conventions

Despite Latin’s prevalence in modern culture, Roman naming conventions still seem foreign to modern traditions. Romans had personal names and surnames and also additional names for nobility to distinguish between repeated names: Gaius Julius Caesar was a personal name, a family name (the Julii), and a personal nickname, though “Caesar” would come to mean “ruler.”

Roman name inspiration

Family names were at the core of Roman patrician life, with additional nicknames added to bring distinction to the individual; think Pompeius Magnus (“The Great”) or Caesar Augustus (“The August”). The -ius and -us suffixes are distinct markers of Latin influence, while Romans also borrowed heavily from other cultures, as Roman gods borrowed from Greek gods.

If you want a Roman name that sounds authentic to the style and majesty of ancient Rome, try our name generator today!

List of Roman Names

From Antonius to Vitus, ancient Roman names often “seeded” modern names through their influence in Western culture. Browse this list of Roman names below to get a feel for what distinguishes female (“-ia”) from male (“-ius”), as well as a few famous names that influenced words we still use today.